As we enter the hottest part of the summer, you might be a little weary after camps, conferences, VBS, etc. By sharing a principle from the Word of God that I learned as a young person in Jr. Church, I wanted to encourage you that your labor is not in vain. What you teach now will be a seed planted in the heart of a child that God can use much later in their lives.

“The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” These were the words that spilled from my lips at what many would say was one of the worst moments of my life. These words came out, not because I am “Super Christian,” but because of a biblical principle that my mom taught me in Jr. Church and lived before me from the time I was young. Today, I want to share with you the principle of living with “An Open Hand.”

To understand why I described this as one of the worst moments of my life, you need to know that I struggled with infertility and PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) for years. God gave us a miracle son, Ben, in 1989; but after tests, surgery, and many tears, I had contented myself that one child was God’s plan. The PCOS had gotten to the place where I had been on birth control for several years just to be able to function. Fast forward to April of 2004, and I was in the ER hemorrhaging. What I expected was to be rushed in for an emergency hysterectomy, but what the charge nurse said instead was, “It’s a baby. You’ve lost a baby.” WHAT? HOW? The questions raced through my mind, but “The Lord giveth and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord” came out my mouth.

Often during that 15 years, I told the Lord that I could not handle a miscarriage. Not after wanting another baby so badly, but here I was holding a 14-week-old baby (not fetus). But within minutes, God gave me 3 things to thank him for – 1. I did not know I was pregnant, so I was not excited about it. 2. The baby was big enough for me to hold, so I could say “I love you and I’ll see you in heaven.” 3. I CAN GET PREGNANT – Infertile Myrtle got pregnant over birth control.

Why did I share this back story? My husband says because women just like to cry, but really it is so you can see how important it is to keep teaching and training our children whether it is at home or in a church ministry. When they are in an ER someday, they will need those principles in their core. They will need the Lord to bring back to mind an object lesson with the teacher holding a Hershey’s bar in one hand and nails in the other. Chocolate representing the good things that come into our lives and nails the bad. She then showed her hand stretched flat, “An Open Hand,” so that God could give and take away. What did I learn from the object lesson and the teacher that lived it before me?

1. The bad things don’t hurt as badly if your hand is open. In that ER, I could still see her clenching her fist on those nails, with pain evident in her face as she did. She opened her hands for us to see the marks the nails left. She then held them with an “Open Hand” and said that they didn’t hurt as badly this way. In 2019, I now ask you. Is there some bad thing past or present that your hand in clenched around? God did not intend it to cause you that much pain. He is the God of all comfort who wants to speak, “Peace, be still,” if we will but let him.

2. The good things can be destroyed if we clench our hands around them. I can see her crushing the candy bar and saying, “It’s mine and nobody else can have it.” Instead of enjoying it, she ended up destroying it. As a mom and a pastor’s wife, two applications cross my mind. Our children are the “heritage of the Lord." They need the freedom to grow up and follow God’s will for their lives (even if it means your grandbaby lives in Oklahoma). Then as a pastor’s wife, we have to be willing to let God move people into and out of our church. It is His church and His people to do with as he pleases. We should not stand in God’s way.

3. If our hand is open, God can add to and take away the good and bad at his pleasure. Remember, Psalm 68:19, "Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits." Now fast forward from that worst moment to April 26, 2005, almost one year to the day. I walked into the same hospital only this time, I delivered a healthy baby boy, Sam. In 2008, I made a return trip for the birth of our Emma Bug. I often wondered, if God would have sent Sam and Emma if my hand had been clenched around the loss.

“The Lord giveth and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.”

“And let us not be weary in well doing…” Keep on teaching, they may not need your lesson today, but they will someday.